Sarah Dean
BIOGRAPHY AND DISCOGRAPHY
An under-recorded singer from the early 1950’s whose two sides showed her to be someone who fully grasped the attitude and subject matter of rock and deserved more of a chance to display that than she was granted by Derby Records.
Known as Sarah “Fatwoman” Dean in some circles, there’s little more than that to go on regarding her career. Some sources claim she was just fifteen years old at the time of her sessions, though she sounds as if those numbers may have been reversed because of her vocal qualities. Her nickname – referencing woman rather than girl – and both of her song’s subject matter suggest someone far older as well.
Whether young or old however, she was just one of many talented singer/songwriters in rock history to have fallen prey to an inhospitable industry, not given the opportunity to grow as an artist despite getting off to a very good start in the brief time afforded her.
SARAH DEAN DISCOGRAPHY (Records Reviewed To Date On Spontaneous Lunacy):
LONG LEAN DADDY
(Derby 752; December, 1950)
A good first effort by Dean who sells the sexual suggestiveness with the right attitude but the power is provided by Freddie Mitchell delivering one of his best solos amidst a solid all around arrangement by the band. (6)
I GOT YOUR BOOGIE
(Derby 765; July, 1951)
Though she’s credited as a secondary artist to Freddie Mitchell, it’s Dean who gets most of the run time here, sounding okay but with not enough explicit suggestiveness beyond the vague lyrics the record can’t transcend its modest aims even with a good sax solo by Mitchell. (5)